The new Abelia cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor in La Menitre, France. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Abelia grandiflora varieties with colorful foliage and compact habits for container production. The crossing resulting in this new variety was made during July of 2010.
The seed parent is Abelia grandiflora ‘MINEDWARD’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,360, the pollen parent is Abelia grandiflora ‘Francis Masson’, unpatented. The new variety was identified as a potentially interesting selection during July of 2012. Selection was made at a research nursery in La Menitre, France.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘MINACARA1’ was first performed in August of 2012 at a commercial nursery in La Menitre, France. Vegetative soft wood cuttings used. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.